David Cameron was attempting to recover this week from the humiliation of recalling parliament only to be defeated on a motion that could have led to UK military action being taken against the Assad regime in Syria.

Cameron had been counting on the support of Ed Miliband, but the Labour leader refused to fall in line, arguing against a rush to war. His stance infuriated the prime minister, who instantly ruled out a second vote on potential military strikes.

Joining Hugh Muir to discuss the week’s action in the first full week of the new parliamentary session: Guardian columnists Polly Toynbee, Anne Perkins and Martin Kettle.

Also this week: the GMB union have voted to reduce its affiliation to Labour – a move that will cost the party more than a million pounds per year. With Ed Miliband due to speak at the 2013 Trades Unions Congress in Bournemouth next week, it will not have been well-received. But is it just a bargaining position from the union?

Plus, after assurances that all was well with the government’s flagship welfare policy the Universal Credit, Iain Duncan Smith has been forced onto the defensive after the National Audit Office branded the programme ‘badly managed’ and wasteful.

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